Thinly sliced potatoes, stacked with a creamy, cheesy, and spice-filled potatoes au gratin recipe topped with melted cheese.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time11 hourshrs30 minutesmins
Course: Entree, Side Dish
Cuisine: American, French
Servings: 6people
Author: Mary Cressler
Cost: $10.00
Equipment
1 10-inch cast iron pan
Ingredients
2tablespoonsbutter(to grease the cast iron pan)
2 1/2 - 3poundsrusset potatoes, thinly sliced with a mandolin
2cupsheavy cream
1cupSwiss Emmental cheese, shredded(about 3 ounces of block cheese)
1cupsmoked white cheddar cheese, shredded(about 3 ounces of block cheese)
2tablespoonsDijon mustard
1 ½tablespoonsUltimate Dry Rub(can sub your favorite all-purpose seasoning)
½tablespoonfreshy thyme, chopped
2clovesgarlic, finely diced
Instructions
Preheat Grill: Prepare the grill for two-zone cooking so you have an indirect side. You'll be cooking only on the indirect side. Target 375 degrees Fahrenheit in the cooking chamber. Coat your 10" cast iron pan with butter.
Prepare Cream Mix: Place the heavy cream, half of the cheeses, Dijon, dry rub, thyme, and garlic into the large bowl. Stir to combine. Note: You reserve the other half of the cheese to put onto the gratin during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Add the potato slices to the liquid to soak and mix up using your hands ensuring all sides of every piece of the potatoes gets tossed in the liquid.
Prepare the Gratin: In the buttered 10-inch cast iron pan layer the potatoes vertically next to each other, and continue around the pan until all empty spaces are filled. The potatoes should be tightly packed. Top the potatoes with the remaining liquid until there is about 1/2 inch from the top (do not fill to the very top). Cover with foil or a lid.
Grill: Place the pan (covered with a lid or foil) on the grill and cook for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid (or foil) and cook an additional 30 minutes. Top with remaining cheese, and then cook 20-30 more minutes. (After 20 minutes, check to see if the cheese is melted, golden brown, bubbly, and crisp on top. If it is, then remove it. If it isn't let it go another 10 minutes.)Remove: Let cool for 10 minutes, and then serve right from the cast iron pan.
Notes
Ingredient Considerations:Potatoes – We prefer russet potatoes for this recipe. The level of starch and how they crisp up creates our ideal texture. You can substitute Yukon Gold or yellow potatoes as well. We are preparing 3 pounds of potatoes, but you may only use 2.5 depending on the exact size of the baking dish and how tightly you pack the potatoes.Cheese – There are a lot of cheese combinations and you can customize your preferred flavor profile. In our case, we are using Swiss Emmental (which is similar to Gruyère or Comté), and also smoked white cheddar. The ratio is 1:1 for any cheese combination. It’s very similar to a cheese ratio for our Cheese Fondue on the Grill recipe.Products We Use (May be affiliate links):